Locomotive throttle valve controlling mechanism



Aug. 6, 1935. M. H. ROBERTS 2,010,645

LOCOMOTIVE THROTTLE VALVE CONTROLLING MECHANISM' Filed May 20, 1932 Patented Aug. 6, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LOCOMOTIVE THROTTLE VALVE CONTROL- LING MECHANISM Montague H. Roberts, Englewood, N. J., ulignor to Franklin Railway Supply Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application May 20, 1932. Serial No. 812,510

Claims. (Cl. 137-139) This invention relates to locomotives and is boiler being provided with a steam dome l in especially concerned with a novel means for which the throttle valve casing 5 is mounted. stopping or correcting slipping of the locomotive The throttle valve 6 is arranged to open and driving wheels. close the seat I at the upper end of the casing 5 According to prior practice, it has been ous- 5, and for purposes of actuation, the valve is 5 tomary, in case the driving wheels slip, in makequipped with a depending stem 8 extending ing a difficult start, to substantially or completethrough the elbow 9. The elbow 9, of course, ly close the main throttle valve and thus shut is coupled with the supply pipe it which may be off the supply of steam to the cylinders until such extended to the driving cylinders.

10 time as the slipping has stopped, then the throt- The connections for actuating the valve 6 in- 10 tie is again partially opened so that the driving elude a lever member ll pivoted as at l2 to any power is resumed. This practice has resulted suitable fixed point. The stem 8 is also pivotin very considerable waste of steam and power. ally connected with the lever II as at I: and a To reduce the power and steam losses to a minilink I is P v coupled as at w t t e lever mum it is necessary, at least under many con- II at the end thereof remote from the pivot point 15 ditions, to stop the slipping before the locomo- An additional Divot Shaft i ca ies two tive has lost all its forward speed, but in order levers Or ar s a d I. which v together to accomplish this in accordance with prior prac-' about the pivot point it. The former of these tice, extremely accurate and careful manipulalevers (ll) is connected with the upper end of go tion of the throttle lever is necessary. the link ll as at l8, while the latteris connected,

Thus, at best, the practice of the prior art with through the throttle rod 20a-2llb, with the regard to slipping has been rather haphazard, throttle lever 2l.. The portion of the rod 20a and with the foregoing in mind this invention is plvotally coupled to the arm l8 as at 22 and contemplates the use of novel means preferably the connection of the portion 20b to the lever 95 associated with the throttle valve controlling 2| also includes a pivot 23. A notched quadrant 25 lever or connections in order to provide for at 24 is provided for the lever 2| in order to retain least a partial closure of the throttle valve indeit in any desired position about the lever fulpendently of the main throttle lever. crum 25.

In the preferred form of the invention, the slip In accordance with prior practice, the conneccontrol means is so arranged as to provide for tion between the lever 2| and the arm l8 would 30 only a partial closure of the main throttle valve be substantially direct or continuous, but in apby the actuation of a supplementary slip control plying the structure of this invention I prefer valve, and the mechanism is further preferably to break the throttle rod into two parts as above constructed to close the throttle valve to a posiindicated (parts 20a and 20b) and also to intertively predetermined point for any given setting pose the fluid pressure device, generally indicated 35 of the main throttle lever. at 28, between these two parts.

The general nature of the invention as well The fluid Pressure device includes a cy nder as the above and other objects and advantages 27 and p ton 8 orki g in the cylinder, and will be more apparent from a consideration of Whil I h v Shown the cylinder 21 as ing, conthe following description making reference to the nected at 29 to the throttle rod and the 40 accompanying drawing, in which piston 28 connected with the rod 20b as at 30, it

Figure 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic side view Should be understood that these parts may be of rear portions of a locomotive including a verted or reversed in position. The cylinder 21,

showing of the main throttle valve in vertical g ggg gf hg g i ggg 322 32:25 3; 2g

section and the apparatus of the present invene hea of the iston ma abut wh tion associated therewith for purposes of slip conpiston relagvely g ggf 2 25 trol; and

spring 23 serves to exert a force on the piston in Figure 2 is a View of certain parts Shown in a direction to move it into the cylinder.

Figure 1 although the parts as here shown occupy Fluid pressure may conveniently be supplied 50 somewhat different positions as compared to the to the device 26 from the fluid pressure or air line showing of Figure 1. 34, this line being arranged to deliver into a Referring now to the drawing in detail, it will chamber 35 in the valve device 36. An additional be observed that the boiler of the locomotive chamber 21 in this device communicates with the u is indicated by the reference numeral 2, this pipe I! which is extended for connection, preferably through a flexible tube 39, to the head end of the cylinder 21.

Communication between chambers 35 and 37 in the valve device 36 may be had only upon unseating of the valve member 40, this valve member normally being held in closed position by means of spring 4|. An additional and normally open valve member 42 is also provided in the device 35 to control communication between the chamber 31 and the exhaust passage 43. The stem 44 of the upper valve member 42 is extended to project exteriorly of the device 36 so that it may be engaged by the hand lever 45, the latter being pivoted as at 48.

To consider the operation of the device, it should first be assumed that the throttle lever 2| is moved to the position 2la (see Figure 1) in order to open the throttle. The corresponding position of the throttle valve is indicated in dotted lines in Figure l at Get. With respect to this movement it is further observed that the force or pressure of spring 33 in the device 26 is preferably suflicient to prevent compression thereof and thus to permit normal opening movement of the throttle valve in the manner described.

In case the driving wheels slip, as above brought out, the prior practice would call for a closure of the throttle valve by suitable manipulation of the throttle lever 2| In accordance with this invention, however, the engineer need only momentarily depress the lever 45 of the slip con trol valve and as a result, the fluid pressure admitted through the connections 34, 38 and 39 will cause relative movement of cylinder and piston 21 and 28 from the position shown in Figure 1 to the position illustrated in Figure 2. This, in turn, will cause a movement of the throttle valve itself from the dotted position 6a in Figure 1 to the partially closed position illustrated in Figure 2. Movement of the throttle lever 2| under the action of the device 26, of course, is prevented by virtue of the engagement of the throttle lever with its quadrant. Thus, the throttle valve is automatically closed to a predetermined point, this point being such that the power of the cylinders will be reduced sulficiently to stop slipping, without, however, completely shutting 011 the supply of steam. The danger of losing all forward speed which has been acquired is, therefore, reduced to a minimum.

One very decided advantage of this arrangement is involved in the fact that the manipulation of the lever 45 need not be accurately performed and it is much more convenient for the engineer merely to quickly depress the lever 45 than to disengage the throttle lever 2| from its quadrant 24 and then accurately re-adjust its position.

Upon release of the lever 45 steam pressure is quickly exhausted through the connections 39 and 38, chamber 31 and exhaust port 43, and it will be observed that here, again, the movement of the throttle valve to open position is accomplished very quickly and accurately without the necessity for careful manipulation of the throttle lever.

What I claim is:-

1. In a locomotive, a throttle valve, means for actuating the throttle valve including a manually operable member and operating connections extending therefrom to the valve, said connections including a fluid pressure cylinder and piston device, means normally maintaining said piston and cylinder in predetermined relative positions, whereby, upon movement of the manually operable member to actuate the throttle, the said piston and cylinder device moves therewith and means for admitting fluid pressure to and exhausting fluid pressure from said piston and cylinder device to effect changes in the relative position of said piston and said cylinder, whereby the connections are altered in length to provide for different settings or adjustments of the valve with a given setting or adjustment of said manually operable member.

2. In a locomotive, a throttle valve, means for actuating thethrottle valve including a manually operable member and operating connections extending therefrom to the valve, said connections including a 'fluid pressure cylinder and piston device, means normally maintaining said piston and cylinder in predetermined relative positions, whereby, upon movement of the manually operable member to actuate the throttle thesaid piston and cylinder device moves therewith, and a manually operable device for admitting fluid pressure to and exhausting fluid pressure from said piston and cylinder device to effect changes in the relative position of said piston and said cylinder, whereby the connections are altered in length to provide for different settings or adjustments of the valve with a given setting or adjustment of said manually operable member.

3. In a locomotive, a main throttle, a manually operable throttle control member, a throttle rod connection extended between said member and the throttle valve, said connection including a fluid pressure cylinder and piston device whereby the throttle rod connection may be altered in length by relative movement of said piston and cylinder, and a manually operable device for admitting fluid pressure to and exhausting fluid pressure from said cylinder, the throttle rod connection being of such length and the piston and cylinder having relative travel such that with said operating member in'position to give a relatively wide opening to the throttle valve such as is required for starting the locomotive, actuation of said manually operable device serves to alter the efiective length of the throttle rod connection in a manner to effect closing movement of the throttle valve.

4. In a locomotive, a main throttle, a manually operable throttle control member, a throttle rod connection extended between said member and the throttle valve, said connection including a fluid pressure cylinder and piston device whereby the throttle rod connection may be altered in length by relative movement of said piston and cylinder, and a manually operable device for admitting fluid pressure to and exhausting fluid pressure from said cylinder, the throttle rod connection being of such length and the piston and cylinder having relative travel such that with said operating member in position to give a relatively wide opening to the throttle valve such as is required for starting the locomotive, actuation of said manually operable device serves to alter the effective length of the throttle rod connection in a manner to effect closing movement of the throttle valve, the alteration in length of the throttle rod connection, with the manually operable member in the position aforesaid, being sufiicient only partially to close said throttle valve.

5. In a locomotive, a throttle valve, means for actuating the throttle valve including a manually operable member and operating connections extended therefrom to the valve, said connections including a fluid pressure cylinder and piston device, means normally maintaining said piston and cylinder in predetermined relative positions, whereby, upon movement of the manually operable member to actuate the throttle, the said piston and cylinder device moves therewith, and

mechanism for admitting fluid pressure to and exhausting fluid pressure from said piston and cylinder device to eflect changes in the relative position of said piston and said cylinder, the said connections further being of such length and the piston and cylinder having relative travel such that with said operating member in position to give a relatively .wide opening to the throttle valve-such as is required for starting the locomotive, operation of said mechanism serves to alter the efleetive length of the connections in a manner to eiiect closing movement or the throttle valve, the alteration in length, with the manually operable member in the position storesaid, being suiflcient only partially to close said throttle valve.

"MON'IAGUE H. ROBERTS. 

